Hollyford Valley- Fiordland National Park

Catch-up (Late September 2019)

The DOC campground at Cascade Creek is a great place to base yourself if you're wanting to spend a few days exploring the Milford Road & Fiordland National Park. It's also the last DOC campground before Milford Sound, 44kms away.

This is our third trip down the Milford Road and while we've pretty much explored every nook & crannie it's always good to check places out again; in different weathers & seasons. We stopped at the Hollyford Valley lookout (Pop's View) which is just past the Divide, the Key Summit Walk and the the trail end of the Routeburn Track.

One very hopeful Kea was strutting his stuff up and down the railings and along the log below the 'Do Not Feed the Kea' sign. Failing to win anyone over he flew to the roof of a nearby vehicle before checking out the windscreen's rubber surround for taste. As we left he was being chased off one vehicle only to land on another as it arrived. Eventually, I'm sure, he would have found some one to feed him.

We headed off down the Hollyford Valley (which is now heavily damaged after the recent rain storm), passing over many of the alpine streams that tumble down from the Seppentine Range & Humboldt Mountains above into the Hollyford River below. David spies a stream out his window that he thinks will make a great photo opportunity. 

And what a stunning scene it is; thick green mosses cover the rocks, luxuriant ferns fill the spaces along the edge of cascading stream and the surrounding trees are dripping with emerald green mosses. Dappled sunlight reaches into the back depths of this magical scene; this is what a rain forest looks like. I stay for quite some time taking way too many photos, I just can't get enough of the beautiful scenery.

And then just a kilometre further along the road this is what nature can do to those beautiful sights. A stream flows down through the middle of a large tree and rock slide that blocked the Hollyford Road for several weeks back in September 2013.

We first visited the Hollyford Valley in 2014, just a few months after the landslide, when the road was still a dusty track through the slide and many large mature trees were caught up in the mud & rocks, their leafy canopy turning brown and dying amongst the rocks and mud. The trees are still standing but are now covered in moss and lichen as they slowly rot away.

There are photos of that previous visit in this blog link.  The area is still rocky and barren but colourful lichen covers many of the rocks and logs and a few shrubs, ferns and grasses are now growing in amongst the fallen debris.

Sadly due to the recent Fiordland storm, Gunns Camp had a large mudslide wash through it, along with severe flooding from the river. The camp is now closed until further notice. Hopefully the owners will be able to restore their quirky campground although from the aerial shots I've seen there is a lot of damage.

I wonder if this is (was) the only hand wound petrol pump in New Zealand. I was surprised at how few winds it took to pump in this guy's gas. 

Here's a link to a photo of the flooding at Gunns Camp, where guests were evacuated by helicopter after a night from hell. This link is a video of the camp as they were leaving in the helicopter.

In the meantime, oblivious to the destruction nature would wrought in a few months time, we carry on up the Hollyford Road. 

I know several of the swingbridges over the Hollyford River were washed away and all of the tramping tracks are closed due to rock slides, washouts and missing bridges. This one is on the Moraine Creek Route.

While I'm taking photos of the river from the bridge I spot a tiny yellow flash zipping out, dipping and diving over the rushing water and back again to a large rock. It's a male Tomtit/Miromiro collecting insects.

Towards the end of the Hollyford Road I know there's an old grave with a sad story, it's right on the edge of the river, above a stony bank and along a short track. This time the sign post at the roadside is missing.

I locate it by spotting a scrape in the undergrowth where cars have parked in the past (and one of the short posts where the sign should have been is still there) but unless you knew about it, you'd not find it. Which is a shame, I'd like to hope that Donald Keith doesn't ever get forgotten about. Now I wonder how his lonely grave fared in the flooded river.

At the end of the road we sit on the tray of the ute and hurriedly eat our lunch because the sandflies are out in force today. We're overlooking the confluence of the  Humboldt Creek & Hollyford River and another swing bridge which is at the beginning of the Hollyford Track, a 4-8 day tramp to the ocean.

Afterwards we walked the short steep track up to the Humboldt Falls lookout (both the Hollyford Track & this one are closed at the moment due to storm damage). The three tier Humboldt Falls, while spectacularly high are a little underwhelming when seen from way across the otherside of the valley.

I zoom in to the top of each tier and find this more fascinating.

The top tier

I wonder how deep the  pools are behind the overflow and if anyone has ever abseiled down to them for a dip.

The Bottom Tier

Two days later, and after the light dusting of snow at Cascade Creek, I headed off on my own mini tiki-tour checking for photo opportunities and to see where the snow has fallen. My first stop was at the top of Lake Gunn. 

I'm the only one around except for pair of Paradise Ducks who I surprise while they're moseying about in the nearby shallows. They honk their disapproval at being disturbed and head off out into the lake breaking up my reflections as payback.

Our camp is at the far end of the lake, there used to be a lovely little DOC camp here at the top end but it got overrun with campers which left no room for day trippers so it was closed down. 

Snow has fallen at road level as I pass through the Divide which is below Key Summit and the end of the Routeburn Track.

I stop again at Pop's Lookout, high above the Hollyford Valley.

There's no Kea to greet me today, just another Tomtit fluff-ball flitting about.

Across from the lookout are the Darran Mountains and the Lake Marian valley, a tough tramping track heads up the hanging valley past the Marian Cascade and Falls to a beautiful alpine lake. We walked the track on one of our previous visits. This whole area is now closed due to the storm damage.

I carried on down the road and came across a few hopeful tourists waiting at Marian Corner; the  junction of the Milford & Hollyford Roads. The road through to Milford is closed due to the avalanche risk and they're waiting to see if it will open.

I have a chat with the coffee-cart guy, telling him he has a captive market but he tells me he's waiting too and can't sell to anyone. His permit only allows for him to sell coffee at Monkey Creek which is further on down the Milford Road. I think he must be very keen, the nearest civilization is back at Te Anau about 80kms away.

I'm don't hold out much hope that the road will open for them, it's cold, very misty and the cloud is dropping even lower, it feels like it might even snow some more. 

I head off down the Hollyford Road stopping just a couple of kilometres further on at the Marian Cascade carpark. I cross over the swingbridge taking a photo looking up the Hollyford River from the middle of the bridge. This swingbridge was washed away in the recent floods, just as the helicopter evacuated more tourists stranded in the carpark.

I walked to the top of the Marian Cascade to take some photos and have the track to myself. Most of those waiting for the road to open would have no idea there this stunning little gem is just down the road. 

I now wonder how the boardwalk up the side of the Cascade survived in the flood; the water would have been raging down here to the river below.

On the way back down the path I stopped to take some slow-mo photos of some little water trickles flowing out of a moss and fern covered bank.

And then it's one more photo of the river as I cross back over the bridge.

Back at Marian Corner many of the cars waiting for the road to open before have now been replaced by new arrivals. There's also a kea entertaining the visitors (not the one from the lookout as this one has a band)...

...I take the opportunity of educate these visitors that they are not allowed to feed the Kea, human food is bad for them and endangers their health and also makes them dependent on human food and stops them from foraging for their own food. Before I'm finished someone else arrives and throws the bird more Cheezels. I give up! 

One last photo of the Hollyford River & a snow dusted East Peak at the tail end of the Darran Mountains. 

Nine Weeks in Napier- Part 2; Two Camps

Catch-up

Continued on from Part 1

To help stave off cabin fever from being parked in suburbia for so long, we headed off on two short breaks away with extended family in their motorhomes. 

Adding a beach we missed on our 'Beach Hop South'  trip in late 2016, we headed to Ocean Beach just south of Hastings on Boxing Day for a few days. The road down to the beachside settlement is steep and narrow, but, unlike it was when I regularly visited the beach during my teens, it is now sealed.

We set up camp in a large paddock courtesy of a local landowner. The wind was up and the weather forecast not too hot but hey, who needs sunny weather when you can rest, relax, laugh and enjoy the company of like-minded camping buddies who just happen to be family.  My two aunties, Pam & Joy (mum's sisters) and their husbands, Gerald & Kevin, are of similar age to me. Pam & Joy are more like sisters and when time and travel allow, we camp together. One occasion that stands out was a very memorable camp on the banks of the Tukituki River a few years ago.

The old surf lifesaving tower brings back a few memories too; I think I might have even been on that deck a few times in my youth! And not by invite either. 'Nough said.

The weather closed in not long after we arrived, it's hard to believe but there were over 600 people on the beach just the day before- Christmas Day was a cracker in the Bay. 

The cold and gusty southerly kept all but the most hardly away from the holiday hotspot.

Cute wee Meg (belonging to Pam & Gerald) was all kitted out for the wet weather. It was fun to have a energetic bundle of energy camping with us; sometimes I do miss not having a pet.

Though Meg wasn't too pleased to be shut inside our van when she spotted her Dad moving the motorhome. I think she really thought they were leaving without her, she shot out the door like greased lightening when I opened it.

This unusual camper with the pop up luton was staying near us too. A great idea for those that might get a little claustrophobic (and hot) sleeping in the roof space.

On the way home from the beach we stopped for a brief look at the 'infamous' Craggy Range walking track on Te Mata Peak. The track was very popular over the holiday period with dozens of people taking the opportunity of walking it before it is returned to its natural state....even though it was not open to the public and on private land.

Originally I was against the track and not just from the iwi perspective (they really should have been consulted- that was very bad of Hastings District Council). Te Mata Peak is an iconic landmark (also an Outstanding Natural Feature) and a very familiar sight to many people. The 2.4km track is a massive scar on an otherwise natural cliff face. 

Personally I wouldn't like to see trees and plants planted along it's edges as had been suggested- then there'd just be green zigzags up the hill- it would need similar grasses planted to soften the lines. The dry grass and exposed rock face is Te Mata Peak, that's a HB summer right there. Now having seen the track though, I am in two minds. I'm sure it would age in time and not be so noticeable. But would people respect the track? Already the corners were worn where people have cut them off, and then there are those 4WD marks up the side...but, will it be returned to it's natural state? Watch this space.

Click on the photo to see how many people were walking the track.

Our second break (and second visit) was to the DOC Camp at Kuripapango, 70kms up the Napier-Taihape Road at the foot of the 'Gentle Annie' a long and winding, slow haul up and over the Kaweka Ranges. 

We arrived a day earlier than the others and initially set up in the same place as we had done on our previous visit (see link above). But it was not to be. Sometimes things just don't flow as they should and after at least 30 minutes of maneuvering, changing and adding to the blocks to get the van level on the uneven ground, and then finally unhitching and setting up camp, we were invaded by thousands upon thousands of tiny native bees. 

Our new camp site under the kanuka but with not so many bees

The air was black with them, the ground even blacker. It sounded like heavy rain on the van as they pummeled the walls and roof. Not only had we parked across a flight path we had backed over a major hatch. They were emerging out of the ground by their hundreds and milling around in a great swirl near the front of our van. Much to David's disgust, it was time to move.

And the reason there were so many? If you look at the photos above you can see great dusky white swathes of kanuka, flowering across the mountain side and right through camp. Kanuka looks similar but is a totally different plant to the famous Manuka (tea-tree). Kanuka is endemic to New Zealand and doesn't produce the highly sought after Manuka honey.

These native bees are a solitary bee (even though the mass together), they don't have hives but dig nest holes in the ground where they take the pollen for their larvae to feed on. As we found out, a nesting area can be riddled with holes giving the impression of a colony and we had one right under the nose of the van. And yes, they do sting- a tiny needle prick that swells and itches. They don't bother you like honey bees but if caught between a rock and hard place (my foot and a croc and then a crooked elbow) they will sting.

Native bee with pollen on it's legs collecting from Kanuka flowers

The others arrived the next day to find that we'd parked where they usually do too! There were still plenty of bees but nowhere near as many as we'd encountered at the other site. We also had fun watching them dig and disappear into the nearby dirt. In the morning tiny piles of dry dirt indicated where they'd left their nests for the day.

The Kuripapango camp is also known as The Oxbow. An oxbow is where a river forms a loop around a land mass and here at Kuripapango the Ngaruroro River forms the loop around the campsite. Unfortunately the land the camp sits on is about 100 metres above the river and it’s a steep walk down to the river bed. 

It was a typical hot humid Hawkes Bay day when we arrived and after all our fluffing around setting up camp I was keen to head down to the river for a swim to cool off. But boy was the water cold, ice cold, it felt like it was straight off the snow. And no matter how many times I ducked under, it didn't warm up but at least it was refreshing.

David checking for trout

When the family arrived, including two of Pam & Geralds' grandchildren- Zara & Hunter, who often go camping and fishing with them- they also found the water too cold to swim in for long. Instead we headed upstream for a walk and for the kids to practice their fishing skills (legs and ankles covered to ward off the an influx of mossies). We saw plenty of trout but the fishers in the family only managed a couple of small fry that either got off or were released.

Zara finds the perfect seat to wait the trout out

Later Zara made pikelets for us on the BBQ while Hunter acted as waiter, handing them around with cream and raspberry jam. I think they have been watching too many cooking shows- we had to score them! Of course it was 10/10.

The weather Gods were against us once again and the next day dawned cold and misty. 

The weather didn't stop us from heading off to do some exploring. This is us driving through the cloud that had settled over the range. We squashed into the vehicles and set off to the end of nearby Lawrence Road to check out a swing bridge.

We stopped at Blowhard Bush (we've walked the track on a better day) on the way and walked into the Troglodyte Cave (means cave dweller, Kevin) to show the kids, and to look for wetas! 

Then we headed to the end of the road  where a long swingbridge crosses another well known Hawkes Bay river, the Tutaekuri. Those that wanted to, crossed back and forth over the bridge. We had no intention of doing the 3 hour tramp from here to another road end at Puketitiri, although I've added it to my 'must do' list (it's probably about 100km by road). There are also a number of tramping tracks that take you to several huts in the ranges. 

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge and view the slide show.

To be continued...